Members in attendance : Jürgen Kocka, President ; Pierre Ducrey, Treasurer and Jean-Claude Robert, Secretary General.
 
The "Bureau restreint" met at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB) on friday, March 22, 2002, to review ICHS operations and activites between regular Bureau meetings of Princeton (August 2001) and Amsterdam (August 2002).
 
Agenda:
 
1-ICHS Operations

2-Treasurer’s Report

3-Relations Between ICHS and UNESCO

4-Work Plan for the Bureau

5-2005 Congress
 
1. ICHS Operations
 
Bulletin No 27 (2001)
The Bulletin was published in January. Slight changes were made in the format and the presentation. We used the new design for the cover and a glossy finish was chosen.  800 copies were printed, and 5 copies were sent to every National Committtee and Affiliated International Organisation ; Internal Commissions received one copy. One request for supplementary copies was received. The cost of mailing is quite important, almost as much as the cost of production.
 
Meetings
a) Association of African Historians
The 3rd Congress of the Association of African Historians was held at Bamako, Mali, between September 10 and 14, 2001. ICHS was represented by the Secretary General and Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch. The venue was successful and papers presented were interesting. This Congress was the occasion of a fresh start for the Association.
b) Association marocaine pour la recherche historique (Rabat, 6 October 2001).
The Secretary General was invited to present a paper at the IXe journée d’étude de l’Association marocaine pour la recherche historique. The chosen theme was "History and Memory". The venue was well-attended and the Association is very dynamic. c) Bureau and General Assembly in Amsterdam : 30 August - 3 September 2002
The preparatory work for the meeting is well under way. The International Institute of Social History is responsible for the logistical organisation. This first circular giving the dates of the Assembly was mailed to all ICHS members last December and a second one will be mailed in May 2002.
 
Schedule :
 
Friday, 30 August : Arrival of Bureau members
 
Saturday, 31 August : Bureau Meeting
Arrival of General Assembly Delegates
 
Sunday, 1st September : Symposium at the Rijksmuseum :"History in National Museums" and visit of the Museum.
 
Monday, 2 September : General Assembly
 
Tuesday, 3 September (morning) : General Assembly
 
Tuesday, 3 September (afternoon) : Bureau Meeting
Departure of Delegates to the General Assembly.
 
A draft agenda for the General Assembly was discussed by the Bureau restreint ; the two main tasks are to select the themes for the Sydney Congress of 2005 and the setting up of the Nominating Committee for the elections to the Bureau in 2005.
 
Other Business
The situation of historical scholarship in India is worrying. The Secretary General will contact Romila Thapar to investigate further action.
 
National Committees / Affiliated International Organisations / Internal Commissions
ICHS received a request from Georgia. After examining the statutes, the Secretary General proposes the acceptation of the National Committee of Historians of Georgia.
On the other hand, three National Committees never answered our letters for over 10 years now : North Korea (1989), Mongolia (1991) and Uruguay (1991). It is proposed to remove those National Committees from the ICHS.
 
2. Financial Report
The Treasurer explains the profit and loss statement and the balance sheet for 2001 (31 December). He also presents a table showing the evolution of the finances of ICHS for the last five years. Documents are distributed to the members present.
The profit and loss statements for 2000 and 2001 will be audited by the firm TEMKO, of Lausanne, as it was done in the past. Accounts, balance sheets and Auditor’s report will be submitted to the General Assembly in Amsterdam. As usual we will proceed in two steps : the General Assembly will nominate its own auditors during its first session (Monday morning) in order for them to have the time to examine at length the documents and then, on the last session (Tuesday morning), the internal auditors will present their own report to the General Assembly. 

3. ICHS / UNESCO Relations
Joint Committee
The Joint Committee met in Paris on October 28 to examine projects to be financed during the upcoming budgetary biennium (2002-2003). ICHS was represented by Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch, José Luis Peset and the Secretary General. The Joint Committee is now housed within the Division of Histories of UNESCO. The Committee proposed to develop projects in four areas : Africa, East-Central Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Arab world.
 
4. Work Plan for the Bureau
Meetings in 2003
As decided in Princeton, the Bureau restreint will meet in Sydney in 2003 and will be responsible for the site visit to inspect the venue for the 2005 Congress. It will report later to the Bureau. Thanks to an invitation from the French National Committee, the 2003 Bureau will meet in Paris from August 29 to 31.
Nominating Committee
The Bureau must designate three of the seven members of the Nominating Committee for the 2005 elections to the Bureau. The President and the Secretary General will be part of the Committee plus another member from the Bureau.
Other matters
The proposed publication of a condensed English translation of Karl Dietrich Erdman’s 1987 book (Die Oekumene der Historiker) is proceeding. Jürgen Kocka has established contact with a new publisher and W. Mommsen started collecting archival material to bring the story of ICHS to the year 2000. 

5. 2005 Congress
The sub-committee of the Bureau responsible for the first selection of themes will meet in Berlin on March 23 and 24. To date, 265 proposals were received, in regard to 224 in 1997. There are 131 proposals for Major Themes, 1 Conference, 75 proposals for Specialised Themes and 58 proposals for Round Tables. IHCS members responded as follows : 25 National Committees on 57 ; 9 Affiliated International Organisations on 29, and 4 Internal Commissions on 11.
Concerning the final choice of organisers and rapporteurs / discussants, it is proposed to ask National Committees, Affiliated International Organisations and Internal Commissions to submit names to the Secretary General no later than the end of December 2002. Then the same sub-committee of the Bureau will make the final choice in January-February 2003 and the Secretary General will contact chosen organisers and send them the information.